Warburton: We will bring back the Ibrox fear factor...
Boss admits his new job is ‘full-on’ but is determined to restore Rangers to glory
T’S all about the Rangers.
Mark Warburton is keen to make sure that one key element of his Murray Park revolution involves supporters sensing they have access to what happens within the corridors of the club’s training ground on the outskirts of Milngavie.
He also wants their attitude to permeate the walls, infect the players and give everyone on the staff back the pride that has been so spectacularly eroded over the last three years.
Those fans chant about Rangers being the be-all and end-all of their existence. The manager wants his ambitious project to return the club to the highest level to be based on broadly the same principle.
“I’m going to a game this weekend and you have to do that, but our focus is here,” said Warburton. “I was amazed by the reaction to the draws for the various cups.
“Without being rude or disrespectful to anyone, I don’t care about that.
“We must get back that real, determined focus that it’s purely about Rangers.”
Warburton also wants to see a return to opposition teams being terrified to come to Ibrox.
Naturally, the supporters will play a part in that by returning to the ground with the announcement having already been made that the Club Deck will be closed for the League Cup visit of Peterhead on August 2.
Coaxing them back, in his opinion, must be centred around opening up what has been going on within their all-too-secretive club and getting them excited about the changes being made.
“The more information you can give to the fans, the better,” said Warburton. “I’m told: ‘Don’t give too much.’ I disagree.
“They are football fans, passionate supporters of the club. Let them know what you’re doing, let them know how training has gone, let them know when you’re disappointed about something, but you’re going to need their help.
“This badge, with the greatest of respect, does not win football games. It’s how good you are and if you prepare well.
“We have to get the fear factor back here, but we have to work at it.
“As a young kid in North London, there were 10 or 12 teams known and mentioned around Europe.
“Rangers were one of them. I remember the big games they played.
“I walked in that first day at Ibrox and thought: ‘If I am with an opposing team and come in here, I am inspired by Ibrox.’
“Our job now is to make sure that fear factor comes back.”
Warburton talks about the academy staff at Rangers working a 90-hour week, but it is clear he is putting in similar hours right now. The academy head Craig Mulholland jokes about receiving emails from him at 6.30am.
“It is full-on, but it has to be. The family are down south still and I get home every eight to 10 days, say hello to them, sign the visitors’ book and then it’s back up the road,” said Warburton. “I have only been in the city once so far. I wore my glasses and sports cap and I got away with it.”
Warburton plays host to Burnley in a friendly next Tuesday and heads to Hibernian in the Petrofac Training Cup next Saturday for his first competitive game.
The hype will build over that encounter as the week goes on, but Warburton insists it is nothing more than part of a jigsaw geared towards being ready for the start of the Ladbrokes Championship programme.
“The Petrofac and League Cup will be games four and five in our pre-season programme,” he said. “That is not to say for one second that we’re going into them with a weakened team. We are going out to win those games, but they are games four and five and everything will be geared towards August 8.”
Warburton regards Murray Park as “a Champions League training ground” and was there yesterday to promote the rebranding of the Rangers Development Fund. The scheme, which has raised over £120m since its foundation in 1964, is now known as the Rangers Youth Development Company.
“The figures involved and the money raised for the academy is magnificent,” said Warburton.